Premonitions
by Kunoichi Uchiha
Summary: AU [IchiXRuki] Rukia can see the future through her dreams. When she sees an orange haired boy in one of her dreams what will she do? Fight it of course. But when will she learn that you can't fight fate.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- hey, this is my first Bleach story so give me your input if I get anything wrong. Please enjoy and review when you finish reading.**

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

Rukia awoke with a start. 

The cool air in the room caused her to shiver as she threw the warmth of her comforter off her body and onto the floor. It was a cold night for autumn and despite that fact, she had broken into a sweat, no doubt from nerves rather than temperature.

She brought her small hands to her face in an effort to calm her anxiety and the wild beating of her heart. Her breathing came in short pants and deep gasps as she attempted to catch her breath.

The dream, it had seemed so real, and that meant only one thing…

It was a premonition.

"Damn it!" Rukia snapped aloud her fist slamming into her mattress as she released some of her pent up anger.

She hated this, all of it; clairvoyance was a curse in more ways that anyone could possibly imagine. Life was supposed to be free, made up of choices made by the person living, not a predetermined occurrence that you have no power over.

Rukia ground her teeth together in anger. Her premonitions never showed things that she wanted and it made her even more frustrated.

She climbed out of bed knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep anymore tonight.

Stepping outside onto her porch, she breathed in the cool night air. Lightning bugs danced together outside and a chorus of crickets chirped in harmony. It was nearing morning, she could tell, the eastern horizon was a lighter hue and the stars were not as brilliant. It would be a foggy morning, Rukia concurred by the cold night temperature and the humid heat that the sun would bring by daybreak. Living in a subtropical climate was not all it was cracked up to be.

She brought her slender fingers to her temples to soothe her aching head. For some reason her clairvoyance always caused her to have a god-awful migraine but she had yet to discover if it was from the visions themselves or the impending anxiety that they never failed to bring.

Her mind wandered back to her vision as she tried to decipher its meaning…

_She felt warm… strong arms held her close…_

_The person holding her spoke but she could not make out what they said… a deep masculine voice…_

_She felt him nuzzle her hair affectionately… warm, she felt so warm… _

_He moved his face to her neck were he planted several feather soft kisses under her jaw… he whispered in her ear but she couldn't understand him again… his breath was warm and tickled her sensitive skin…she couldn't make out his face yet…_

_His hand moved to her cheek, turning her face toward his… first she saw his hair… bright orange and unruly…_

_Her eyes closed… his lips touched hers… soft and tender… _

_He pulled back slowly… her eyes opened… the vivid orange hair framed his face in a wild halo… high cheekbones and slightly furrowed eyebrows… his eyes were still closed… a small smiled pulled at the corners of his mouth but refused to completely surface…_

_He dipped his face in for another kiss but she stopped him, placing her hand against his chest… she felt so small, her hand seemed tiny against the broad expanse of his chest…_

_His eyes opened slowly in question… deep brown… they held an intensity she had never seen before… so beautiful..._

It ended there. Not the longest of premonitions but Rukia had seen more than she had wanted to.

Her hands were clenched tightly into fists and shaking from her pent up anger. She hated seeing things like this; it was almost like being told what to do.

Rukia hated being told what to do.

Well, there was only one thing that she could do, one thing to keep any semblance of freedom and choice… Fight it until the bitter end.

* * *

The next morning was as foggy as Rukia had expected. The sun could barely through the hazy mist, which created a murky atmosphere that could only be described as gloomy. This did little to brighten her downed spirit. 

She straightened the wrinkled pleats in her school uniform skirt and dusted of some stray cat hair that had found its way onto her jacket. It was almost time to leave for school.

She was nervous though she did a very good job of hiding it. Starting at a new school was nerve-racking enough without the added stress of a premonition. She might meet the orange haired boy today. It was very possible that he was a student, maybe even a classmate.

She caught herself before she groaned aloud. Fate could be fought, and she would prove it.

She glanced at her watch before picking her schoolbag off the couch, dusting off more cat hairs which had adhered themselves onto the fabric. She glanced around the house, making sure all windows were closed and electronics were turned off. Being responsible was not something she was used to but now that she lived by herself, she was making a conscious effort to be more so.

Her cat was lying on top of her bookshelf, completely ignoring the cat towers she had bought for him to climb, staring down at her with his ruby red eyes and swishing his orange tail back and forth.

"Bye Kyo," she said to the orange feline before she headed toward the door. Putting on her shoes and swinging her bag over her shoulder, she left, locking the door behind her.

The walk to school was uneventful and the scenery was shadowed by the heavy fog. The grass and plants were wet with morning dew and the sidewalk was darkened with moisture. Few people were out except for fellow commuters heading to either school or work. She passed by a man as he walked outside to retrieve the newspaper, a cup of coffee in his hand and a bathrobe wrapped around what she guessed were his pajamas. His eyes were half-lidded and tired but he still managed to groan out a sleepy "good morning" which Rukia returned politely.

* * *

The school was a good size, not the largest she had ever seen but big enough. Students were filing in to the building and calling out to their friends. It was a typical high school complete with several pairs of shoes tied together and hanging from the power line, no doubt they belonged to the freshmen. 

Rukia walked through the front doors, keeping her eyes peeled all the while for orange hair. She had visited the school earlier and had learned where her classroom would be so she could avoid the hectic crowds in the administration building.

"102B" she said aloud as she arrived at the right classroom.

She was the first one there and she allowed a small ghost of a smile to appear on her face. She headed for the seat in the back closest to the window, the most inconspicuous seat as well as the most entertaining.

As she settled into the seat, a group of people walked in but Rukia paid little attention to them, preferring instead to stare out the window at the masses of late students trying desperately to make it to school on time. She let out a small giggle when she saw a boy trip over something and take out three other students as he fell.

"Is this seat taken?" she heard a feminine voice ask her. She turned to address the speaker but froze.

Orange hair.

She felt her heartbeat quicken instinctively but brushed away her nerves when she noticed the person was female. She let out a small breath and forced a small smile onto her face.

"No it's not," Rukia replied.

The girl smiled brightly and took a seat next to her, heaving her oversized bag onto the desk.

"I'm Inoue Orihime, it's nice to meet you," the orange haired girl said.

"Kuchiki Rukia," she replied trying not to laugh at the girl's perky personality.

"Are you new here Kuchiki-san?" Orihime asked as she pulled out a large and brightly colored notebook.

"Rukia is fine, and yes, I just moved here a week ago," she replied. The other girl had opened the bright notebook and scribbled something inside before she ripped the paper out and handed it to Rukia.

"That's great Kuchiki-san, here this is my phone number," she said gesturing to the paper, "I'll show you around the school and introduce you to everyone, and you can eat lunch with us too."

Rukia was a little taking back by her friendliness but accepted it nonetheless. It was much nicer than being all alone on the first day. She let a genuine smile form on her face.

"Thank you Inoue-san," she replied graciously.

"No problem Kuchiki-san, and if you didn't bring any lunch don't worry because I always bring extra for everyone," Inoue stated helpfully.

Rukia only smiled in return, her eyes darting toward the shorthaired girl who sat down beside Orihime.

"Good morning Tatsuki, how are you today?" she said cheerfully.

"Fine, I guess," she replied nonchalantly, "It's the first day of school so it's not the best day in the world."

Rukia silently agreed with her.

"Oh, right, this is my new friend Kuchiki Rukia," Orihime said gesturing to Rukia, "Rukia, this is Arisawa Tatsuki."

"Nice to meet you," Tatsuki uttered civilly her eyes focused on Rukia.

"Likewise," she replied.

More and more students were arriving and the seats in the classroom were beginning to fill. She had been introduced to another girl, Chizuru, who seemed to have a strange obsession with Orihime, and two guys. A tall and bulky guy named Chad and a smaller, more reserved guy named Uuryu.

"There are two more people in our little group," Orihime began, "Kiego is always late, but I don't know where Ichigo could be," she finished in a thoughtful tone.

"There was an emergency at the clinic," Tatsuki piped up, everyone turned their attention toward her and she continued, "I passed by there on the way to school and Ichigo stopped me, said he was going to be late. He told me he'll try to be here before lunch."

"Oh no," Orihime pouted, "I hope everything turns out alright," she turned her attention to Rukia, "You'll love Ichigo, I have no doubt about that, but watch out for Kiego," her voice lowered to a whisper and she leaned in close, "If you're not careful around him he'll try to make a pass at you." Rukia's eyes widened slightly.

"Thanks for the warning," she said back with a nod.

The teacher walked in moments later and the blaring roar of the classroom banter quieted. The class was more of an introduction of everyone and learning names rather than actual education so there was an easygoing atmosphere throughout the period. Fifteen minutes into class, the one called 'Kiego' strolled in. He fed the teacher a fanciful excuse about his lateness and took a seat next to Chizuru.

* * *

She was walking next to Orihime, following her to the special tree where they always ate lunch. The others had gone on ahead while the orange-haired girl had offered to give Rukia a small tour of the campus. 

It was much smaller than Rukia's old school but it was also better taken care of. The rooms were clean; the floors shined with expensive tile and flower gardens littered every corner outside. It was a beautiful school and now that the morning fog had cleared, Rukia could see how amazing it was.

She was amazed at how friendly the people were too. Rukia had never made friends easily and most of her fear of coming to his school rested on that fact.

She let out a contented sigh. She had already meet loads of people, the school was beautiful and the only person with orange hair was Orihime. She turned to look at the girl next to her as they turned a corner.

CRASH!

She heard Orihime gasp but that was the last thing on her mind. She had hit something hard as they turned the corner. She was dazed, stars where shooting across her eyes and her center of gravity was disturbed. She felt wobbly and disoriented. What had she ran into?

Strong hands landed on her shoulders to hold her steady. She heard a deep voice ask her something but she only caught the word 'okay'.

"Hey," it came again, "can you hear me… are you okay?"

She looked up to the speaker and froze.

Unruly orange hair.

Deep brown eyes.

Same face.

Same everything.

Her mouth dried and her heart pounded in her chest.

It was him.

* * *

**End of chapter one. Please review, I really need encouragement to write this story so much so that you have no idea. **

**Here, I'll make it easy for you…**

**Cut and paste**

**1. Cool story, please update.**

**2. Your have a few mistakes, please edit.**

**3. This story sucks.**

**4. OMG! Please update soon. I love it!!**

**There you go. You can remain anonymous and write some random name in the name box and simply cut and paste the review note. LOL. You don't even have to think up anything to write. Hehe.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The next chapter is here. Read and review please.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Bleach.**

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

Unruly orange hair.

Deep brown eyes.

Same face.

Same everything.

Her mouth dried and her heart pounded in her chest.

It was him…

Her mouth was gaping but she didn't care, her eyes were locked with the same familiar pair brown orbs from her dream. He was staring at her in concern, wondering if he had caused her any bodily harm. His hands still rested on her tiny shoulders and he had half an urge to shake her awake because she still hadn't said anything.

One of his hands left her shoulder and moved to her chin, pushing her face higher so he could get a better look at her eyes.

"You don't seem to have a concussion," he said after inspecting her pupils. He let a half-smile appear on his face in relief. At least he hadn't shaken her up too bad. He let out the small breath, which he had been holding unconsciously.

"Rukia, are you okay?" Orihime asked in a worried tone from behind the stunned girl. When she got no response she turned to the boy, "Ichigo, is everything alright?"

The boy nodded in response, his hand still resting on the smaller girl's shoulder.

Rukia was suddenly snapped out of her daze as she heard the orange haired girl speak. The alarm at seeing the boy from her dream was washed and replaced by anger… she was fuming.

"YOU!" she nearly yelled, her fury directed completely at him.

The half-smile on Ichigo's face was replaced by a surprised look. He cocked his head to the side in a questioning manner and looked at the girl's obviously irritated face. She was thoroughly livid and Ichigo could not understand why.

"Huh?" was all he managed to say before Rukia roughly pushed his hand off her shoulder and took a step back, her eyes never leaving his confused face.

"Don't touch me without my permission," she said with a growl, _don't_ _touch me _ever_ for that matter_, she thought secretly. Her eyes bore into his as if daring him to challenge her.

"Rukia?" Orihime said softly, "Are you sure that you're alright?"

She turned to Orihime and nodded once, "Yes Inoue-san, thank you. Can you tell me where the clinic is? I think that I'll go there and get an aspirin, I can feel a pounding headache coming already." She shot Ichigo a small glare as she said the last part.

"Yeah, sure, it's…" she paused for a moment and looked around the hallway with a thoughtful look on her face, "Umm… well, I think it might be…"

"I'll take you there," Ichigo cut in, interrupting Orihime's rant. The raven-haired girl turned her attention back to the boy. Like hell she was going anywhere with him alone.

"I'm not a child, I can follow directions just fine," she bit out sharply. His eyes widened in surprise at her comment.

"That's not what I meant," he said defensively, "I just thought, since you're new here and all, it would be easier just to…"

"Just tell me where it is," she cut in, crossing her arms in front of her chest and tapping her foot in impatience.

Ichigo gawked at her, his mouth parted in astonishment. This girl was really something else. He shook himself out of his reverie and started to speak, "Do you know where the administration room is?"

She nodded her assent.

"Well, it's right above it, on the second floor," she nodded again before turning and walking that way. She waved to Orihime as she passed, turned the corner and was out of sight.

* * *

She felt like screaming.

That damn orange-haired kid _did _go to school here, and, of course, he just had to be friends with the only people in this school that she had met. Her hands were curled into tights fists to alleviate some of her aggravation. He was probably in her class as well.

She forced her teeth to unclench as she made her way to the staircase and uncurled her hands to grab the railing. The hallways were nearly deserted, everyone being at lunch, and it gave the school a ghost town-like atmosphere. She almost wished the stupid boy had walked her to the clinic.

She shook her head at the thought. She wanted nothing whatsoever to do with that damned boy.

At the top of the stairs, she turned left, heading toward the clinic. It was even more uninhabited on the second floor of the school and she half wondered if the nurse would be in the clinic or out to lunch with everyone else.

Rukia brought her hands up to rub her temples. She really was getting a wicked headache but it had little to do with smashing into the orange haired kid and more to do with seeing him at school and knowing she would have to deal with the premonition sooner rather than later. She let out a deep sigh. Things never went her way did they?

* * *

"Okay everyone, who wants to try my daikon, pickled plum and green tea rice balls?" Orihime announced with glee.

"…" everyone in the group had incredulous looks on their faces as they stared at Orihime's strange looking dish.

"Umm, no thanks Inoue, I brought more food than I can eat," said Tatsuki, gesturing to her bento box. Everyone else in turn gave the orange haired girl their own excuses as to why they could not eat any of her food "even though it looked wonderful" as they had stated.

Orihime turned to Ichigo, the only one who hadn't spoken. He was looking down at his food as if in a daze, not moving at all, as everyone around him was engrossed in the wonders of lunchtime.

"Ichigo," she began, he was snapped out of his musing when he heard his name. The girl gestured to the plate of food in her hand, "Do you want any?"

He didn't say anything, choosing instead just to shake his head no and turn his attention back to his lunch.

_I wonder what's wrong with him_… Orihime thought silently before eating another rice ball.

"Where is she?" Kiego suddenly appeared out of nowhere, his eyes darting around the group of friends.

"Who are you talking about?" Tatsuki snapped, clearly annoyed with his overzealous attitude.

"The new girl of course," his eyes took on a dreamy quality, "she wants me."

A chorus of laughs erupted from the groups of friends as they took turns making fun of the smitten boy. Even Uuryu jibed about how Kiego had no chance with her. The short boy, in turn, simply huffed and took a seat next to Ichigo who had remained silent.

"Hey," it was Chad who spoke this time, his question directed at Ichigo whose face looked strained in concentration, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," he replied, looking up at his large friend, "I was just thinking."

"What were you thinking about?" Kiego said from beside him, "The new girl?"

"Actually I…"

"Nooooooooo…" the shorter boy interrupted him mid-sentence, "She's mine! I saw her first!"

Ichigo's eyes widened at his friend's statement, "That's not what I meant," he said defensively, "She just seems familiar, but I can't place where I've seen her before."

Kiego leaned closer to Ichigo, staring him in the eye.

"Look, don't worry about it, she doesn't like me anyway," he turned his eyes away from the glaring boy as he finished.

"That's not true Ichigo," Orihime spoke up with a confident smile on her face, "She was just startled, that's all. She'll warm up to you."

He almost rolled his eyes in opposition, "Whatever."

He turned back to his uneaten bento.

_This won't do,_ the orange haired girl thought to herself, _how can I make those two get along?_

She was snapped out of her pondering when Kiego spoke up again, "Hey Inoue? Will you switch seats with me so I can sit next to the new girl for the rest of the year?"

Her eyes widened as a thought came to her.

_That's it!_

* * *

Rukia felt better.

Advil always worked wonders on her headaches. She felt like sighing in relief. The nice nurse had even brought Rukia a sandwich from the teachers lounge for her to eat for lunch. She smile to herself, it was unfair how good the teacher's food was compared to the horrendous meals they tried to feed the students.

She walked down the hallway in a casual manner, even though she was late for class, for in her hand she held the most valuable thing to any high school student… a late pass.

She had a hint of a smile on her face as she stopped in front of her class's door. Making sure that her uniform was straight, she slowly opened the entry, striding in with a smirk on her face.

Before the teacher could yell at her for being tardy, she held up her hall pass, silencing the professor on the spot. The pass was a wondrous thing, almost like giving the power of the gods to mere mortals. The teacher simple scowled as he gestured to the back of the room.

"That you for joining us Miss Kuchiki, please take your seat next to Mr. Kurosaki," Rukia nodded to the teacher before the words he spoke sunk in.

_Wait a second, next to who?_ She turned to look at her seat by the window to find it empty and waiting, but next to it, where Orihime should have been sitting, was the Orange haired boy who she had been hoping to avoid.

She felt her headache begin to return.

"Wait, sir, I really don't want to sit there," she said to the teacher before he headed back to his teaching podium.

It was the professor's turn to smirk this time, "Well I'm sorry about that Miss Kuchiki, but the seats are permanent after today, and since you were late for class you will have to live with what is left."

Rukia held herself back from scowling at the teacher and his arrogant tone of voice. She walked back to her seat slowly, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Sitting down and placing her bag underneath the desk, she turned her face to look out the window, focusing on ignoring the aggravating boy sitting next to her.

* * *

The bell finally rung, signaling the end of the day and freedom for the students.

Rukia grabbed her bag quickly, standing up and nearly racing out of the classroom at top speed. She needed to get out of there.

Racing down the hallway in a fast walk, she barged through the double doors to outside. She was one of the first students to leave and she mentally patted herself on the back for avoiding the rush. Taking a calming breath of fresh air, se settled herself at a slower and more relaxed pace toward her house.

"Wait," she heard someone call, their footsteps racing to catch up with her.

She turned around to see who was calling for her and instantly regretted it. She didn't slow down or wait as the orange haired boy ran after her.

"Can I help you?" she asked as he slowed to walk beside her. She gave him a quick sideways glance before turning her eyes back forward.

"I just wanted to apologize to you," he said, looking at her as he spoke, "I was a jerk for running into you and I'm sorry."

She turned to glance at him but did not say anything back.

"I don't want us to get off on the wrong foot, I mean, we're seatmates after all, and it would be better if we were friends rather than enemies," he said.

She still remained silent.

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo by the way, I don't think I introduced myself after our run-in," he stated to her, waiting for her response.

When she was mute yet again, he stepped in front of her, stopping her stride.

She glared at him with angry eyes, opening her mouth to retort but her beat her to the punch, "Look, I'm telling you the truth when I say that I am extremely sorry for anything that I did to you. I don't know why you dislike me but we are going to be sitting beside each other for the rest of the year and I would feel much better if we were on speaking terms."

She looked up at his face, his eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes bore into hers daring her to argue. She knew this was a lost battle.

Her dark purple eyes stared met his and he felt a sudden feeling of familiarity rush through him, _Where have I seen those eyes before?_

"I accept your apology," she said clearly, keeping her voice sounding confident even though the way his eyes bore into her unnerved her deeply.

It took a moment for him to grasp what she said but when the words sunk in he let a small smile appear on his face and he stepped to the side, letting her pass.

When she resumed her walk, he followed, matching his pace to hers as he walked next to her. Her teeth ground together in anger when she realized he had not left.

"What are you doing?" she inquired stopping her march and turning to face him fully.

"Uhh… well I figured I'd walk you home," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "We could get to know each other better and I can keep all the thugs around here from bothering you."

She stopped herself from growling out loud at him.

"Look Kurosaki," she said his name through her teeth, "I can take care of myself," he opened his mouth to argue but she beat him to the punch, "and as for us getting to know each other, we will be sitting together for the rest of the year, I think we will have plenty of time the become accented."

He didn't know what to say, her eyes held a defiance of which he had never seen and he was at a loss for words.

Seeing that he was not going to respond, she continued her walk home.

"Wait," she heard him call.

Her patience was running thin and she turn to snap at him, "What do you want now?"

"You never told me your name," he replied.

She felt relieved that he hadn't found some stupid excuse to follow her home and let out a small sigh before answering, "It's Kuchiki Rukia."

He repeated her name silently to himself as if testing the way in sounded coming from his lips.

"Goodnight Rukia," he said, watching as she flinched when he casually addressed her by her first name.

She did not turn around as she answered back, "Goodnight Kurosaki-san."

He let a humored smile appear on his face at her formality. She was definitely something else.

* * *

**A/N- thank you for all the reviews, you have no idea how much they inspired me to write this chapter. I was going to wait until next week to update but getting such wonderful reviews inspired me. Please review this chapter and tell me what you think.**

**1. Nice chapter, update soon.**

**2. Check your grammar and edit some parts.**

**3. I hate this chapter.**

**4. Yeah! I love it! Update soon!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- hey guys, sorry it took me forever and a day to update, but I'm back now! I don't know how often I will be able to update but I will try to do a chapter every week, I don't have classes on Fridays so I'll try to write then. Reviews always give me incentive to write so if you enjoy this story and want me to continue it REVIEW!! By the way, I messed up in the last chapter at the end when Rukia says "Ichigo" she is supposed to say "Kurosaki" so I changed that, thank you to andraq for pointing that out. **

**Well, on with chapter 3….**

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

_The cat pounced, his front paws reaching for unseen prey. His orange tail swished madly as he watched the small creature try to escape. His pupils were large, making his eyes look black rather than the warm cinnamon color they usually were. The fur on his back stood up in orange spikes as he stalked his frantic victim._

_She couldn't make out what Kyo was chasing but was surprised at the cat's ferocity. She had never seen him like this before, it was as if he had discovered his mortal enemy. She cringed as the orange feline knocked over a picture frame, sitting on the coffee table, as he attempted to pounce again. The small blur he was chasing scurried past her and under the couch, Kyo hot on his tail._

_She watched amused as the cat pawed under the couch desperately trying to reach the small creature. Whatever it was he was hunting, it was not coming out from under the couch anytime soon. She giggled slightly at the cat's frenzied pawing and the way his tail continued to rocket back and forth._

"_What the hell is going on!" she heard a male voice shout from behind her._

_She turned around surprised and felt herself freeze._

_What the hell was he doing here, in her house! That stupid orange-haired Ichigo stood watching her obviously waiting for her to answer the question he had just howled at her. The nerve of that man, and what the hell was he doing in her house!_

_She opened her mouth to yell at him but found her body would not respond._

"_Why are you just standing there when your stupid cat is going to kill…" she couldn't make out the rest of his sentence. His mouth was moving but she couldn't hear his words. She felt her own lips move of their own accord and she uttered several inaudible words back._

_Turning away from his hard glare, she grabbed the orange feline and picked him up trying to calm his struggling form. He wanted nothing to do with her and desperately tried to free himself from her grasp. Why was Kyo being so damn difficult? She dragged the struggling cat to her bedroom where she deposited him, making sure to shut the door so he could not escape._

_She looked at her hand, the crazed feline had scratched her right index finger and in was slightly bleeding. What on earth had gotten into that cat? _

She woke up then, looking at her finger and noticing it lacked the deep scratch she had just been looking at. A dream, she thought to herself.

"But was it just a dream?" she asked herself aloud. Her eyes shifted over to the orange fluff ball sleeping soundly on her bed and felt herself relax. Kyo was too sweet of a cat to do such a thing. She smiled and scratched his ear watching as he purred and rolled over onto his back. Yes, Kyo would never scratch her like that. She felt relieved, that meant the stupid classmate of hers would not be in her house either.

She turned to look at her digital clock, the bright red numbers lit up the room in a warm glow. She sighed in relief, she still had two hours to sleep.

* * *

She pressed the alarm button on the clock down with a vengeance. Two hours was not nearly as long as she had thought. Kyo jumped up at her violent outburst toward the alarm clock but settled down when he noticed the danger was minimal. 

She stretched her arms over her head trying to work out the stiffness in her back. Yawning, she stood up and headed toward the bathroom. Her legs were stiff with sleep and she did her best not to stubble on her way through the room.

She didn't have time to eat a proper breakfast and settled instead on a glass of chocolate milk. Better than nothing, she thought as she gathered her books and straightened her school uniform. She stroked Kyo several times before heading out the door.

The walk to school was uneventful. She walked at a speedy pace and nodded to several of the people she passed.

She made it to school minutes before the bell rang. Sitting down in her seat, slightly winded, she took out her books for her first class. Her seatmate had not arrived yet and she mentally hoped he had decided to skip.

"Good morning," Orihime said from two seats down, waving happily to Rukia with a broad smile on her face. Rukia smiled back, thought it was slightly forced, returned the greeting. Rukia was not much of a morning person and Orihime's perkiness was a little annoying.

Rukia's stomach growled from hunger, chocolate milk was not the most filling of a breakfast. She made a mental note to set her alarm clock earlier tomorrow so she could eat a decent meal before school.

"Good morning Ichigo," Orihime said, Rukia wanted to groan.

"Morning Inoue," The boy said back casually. Rukia kept herself from turning toward him when he spoke and instead pretended she was reading her textbook.

"Morning Rukia," He said as he sat down in his seat next to her. His voice sounded sleep laden but she paid no attention.

"Kurosaki," she replied back, not turning away from her book. She felt his eyes on her.

"You can call me Ichigo," He told her as he placed a paper bag on his desk and pulled his books out of his bag.

"I prefer Kurosaki," she said back. At that moment, her stomach decided to make another audible growl. She heard him chuckle and she wasn't sure if he was laughing at her statement or her growling stomach.

"My sister baked these for me this morning, would you like one?" he asked her gesturing to his paper bag. She still did not turn to him as she uttered a small "No thank you"

"Are you sure?" he began again, "Chocolate is hard to come by in this school."

He head involuntarily turned toward him when he uttered the word "chocolate" and her eyes fell on the yummy looking bromines he was offering her.

"They're still warm," she told her and she looked up to eyes before turning her attention back to the brownies. "I can't eat them all."

She debated with herself. On one hand, she had sworn to ignore this orange haired boy and that meant not unnecessary talking, looking and overall interacting, and that deferentially meant no accepting food from him. On the other hand, the brownies looked warm, fudgy and incredibly appetizing. Not to mention she had had no breakfast. Her stomach took that moment to add a decisive growl.

Ichigo held the bag out to her and she tentatively reached in and pulled out a warm brownie. She didn't miss the small echo of a smirk on the boy face as she took one of the brownies.

"Thank you," she said as she turned away from him again and took a bite out of the delicious treat.

* * *

"Finally, time for lunch!" said Orihime as she pulled out her lunchbox. Rukia watched as she pulled out and indistinguishable meal. They sat under an oak tree in the schoolyard, Rukia sat next to Orihime, and as far from Ichigo as possible. 

"What do you have today?" asked Tatsuki as she too turned to observe the contents of he lunchbox. The food looked like brown cookies filled with red filling.

"Miso and Azuki bean cakes," she replied as everyone cringed and some people turned slightly green. Rukia looked at the cakes again. Yep, she decided that description sounded about right, was this a joke or did this girl really eat that kind of stuff?

"Kuchiki-san would you like to try one?" she heard the orange haired girl ask when she noticed the smaller girl was observing the cakes.

"I Uhh…ouch" she felt something hit her in the side of the head. She turned and saw Ichigo mouthing "no" to her as he signaled her with his hands. What the…? What could a little food hurt? It's not like she was going to listen to him anyway, "Sure, Inoue-san I would love to try some." She heard Ichigo groan and saw him shake his head in dismay.

She took one of the smaller cakes and took a rather large bite out of it, chewing off almost half of the cake with one bite. She noticed that everyone in the group was silent and watching her intently as if she was going to drop dead at any moment. The only one speaking was Orihime who acted as if everything was normal.

It didn't taste as bad as she had thought it would have. It wasn't the greatest food she had ever tasted by any means but it certainly wasn't poison. The flavors of the miso and the azuki bean did not mix very well but the actual texture of the cake was made very well. She swallowed the rest of the cake with one bite.

"Not bad," she said to the orange haired girl when she looked at Rukia expectantly. The smile that Orihime gave her was worth eating the weird cake, it was obvious that that was the closest thing to a complement she had ever gotten for her cooking.

"Thank you Rukia," she said and at that moment, with the use of her first name, Rukia knew that Orihime had just included her as a real friend. Rukia nodded back and smiled.

"Wow, go Rukia," she heard a male voice say from beside her, "It takes a brave person to try on of Inoue's concoctions." The brown haired boy, Keigo Asano said, leaning closer to Rukia as he spoke, "Cute and brave, that's my kind of girl." At that moment, he flashed her a cheesy grin and she had the sudden urge to shudder.

"Umm… thank you," she said nervously trying to scoot away from the boy nonchalantly.

She did not make eye contact with him for the rest of the lunch period.

* * *

The rest of the school day went by fairly quick, Rukia ignoring Ichigo by pretending to pay attention to the teacher and Ichigo doing strange things to get her attention. Apparently, the orange haired boy was not used to being unnoticed. He bumped her with his elbow several times, dropped his pencil on her desk and stared at her for minutes on end, but she did not budge. If he wanted to have a conversation with someone so bad he should have thought twice when he took the seat next to her. She did not talk to stupid orange haired men who haunted people's dreams. 

The end of school bell was a heavenly sound to Rukia. She gathered her supplies and stood up before Ichigo could even register the fact that school was over. Walking past the infuriating boy, she headed toward the door. Outside the room she took in a deep breath of relief, the school day was over.

"Rukia," she heard a female voice call, she looked over her shoulder and saw Orihime walking toward her, her orange hair swinging back and forth.

"What's up Inoue?" she asked when the girl fell in to step beside her.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house and we could study for that math exam that we have next week?" Rukia was surprised, she had not expected Orihime to be so inviting.

"Umm, sure Inoue-san, but I can't stay for too long, I have a cat to feed." Orihime smiled and nodded, leading the way to her house.

Orihime's house was in the opposite direction of Rukia's but it wasn't very far from the school. She lived on the second story of an apartment complex. Rukia was surprised to find that, like her, Orihime lived by herself. Well, with one exception…

"Rukia this is Shigure," the orange haired girl said, gesturing to a black dog that looked rather bored. The dog looked at Rukia for only a moment before laying his head back down on the carpeted floor. "He is kind of lazy but he perks right up if he smells food."

Rukia nodded once watching the lazy dog as he lounged on the manila colored carpet.

"Speaking of food, we had better get busy," the orange haired girl stated as she headed into the kitchen. Rukia followed her wondering what she was up to.

"Lets see… we can make some more of those cakes and maybe some wasabi and honey dumplings…" Orihime said more to herself than to Rukia. Rukia watched the orange haired girl scurry across the kitchen grabbing bowls, pans and different sorts of utensils.

"Umm… what would you like me to do?" Rukia asked sheepishly as Orihime pulled out all sorts of ingredients.

"Oh…" Orihime said as if she had only just noticed Rukia was in the kitchen, "Umm…can you mix the honey and the wasabi into a paste?" she asked. Rukia nodded and grabbed one of the bowls and a spatula. Orihime handed her the wasabi and the honey and instructed her how to mix them.

Rukia watched as the mixture turned into a dark green colored paste. Baking was more fun than she had thought it would have been. Cooking was never something that Rukia took pleasure in. She was more of an instant ramen and take out kind of girl, but sitting here, in Orihime's kitchen, it was kind of fun. Granted she would probably never eat any of the stuff they were cooking, it was fun to sit and talk with the orange haired girl as they concocted the strange cuisine.

"Okay Rukia, time to mix that into this," Orihime said, gesturing to the flour filled bowl she was mixing, "Now all we have to do is shape them and bake them."

Rukia almost laughed at the pitch of her friend's voice as she said shape and bake.

It took little to no time for them to finish the forming the snacks. As they baked, Rukia gathered her math notes and Orihime set up her living room into a study friendly environment. Rukia took a cozy spot on the couch while Orihime brought several chairs over to the coffee table.

'Why was she bringing so many chairs?' thought Rukia. She was snapped out of her musing by the ringing of the doorbell.

"Oh, they're here," the orange haired girl said aloud heading in the direction of the door, "Come on in," she said again opening the wooden threshold to reveal several of their classmates.

Rukia visibly paled when Ichigo entered the apartment. It figured he would be here. Tatsuki, Chad and Uryu also entered the apartment.

"Wow, you guys all made it, the snacks are almost done," Orihime said to the group, "Go have a seat and I'll check on the food." She said, leaving for the direction of the kitchen.

"She made food?" Tatsuki asked with a cringe. Rukia simply nodded as the rest of the apartment's occupants paled.

Rukia smiled to herself, turning her attention to her math notes. She was glad Orihime had invited her over to study for the test, even though Kurosaki was here as well, because Rukia honestly had no clue about the subject. Her old school was a private specialty school, which focused more on the student's occupational preference, and nowhere in Rukia's preference was math included. She found the entire subject asinine, what was the point in learning something that any computer can figure out for you? She let out a frustrated sigh as she continued to be confused by the maddening equations.

She felt the couch dip slightly as someone sat next to her and kept herself from falling into them as the heavier weight shifted her form. She looked up to see who it was and instantly regretted it. His chocolate eyes were not looking at her but at her notes and he only looked up when he felt her eyes on him.

"Do you need some help with that?" he asked honestly, "I'm not bad with math."

She narrowed her dark violet eyes at him. It figured he was good at math.

"I don't understand it," she said simply.

"What part?" he asked her as he got his own notes out of his bag.

"Any of it," she said to him.

He chuckled slightly but when he realized she wasn't joking his face turned humorless, "Are you serious?"

She gave him a look that said 'does it look like I'm joking' and he stared at her for a moment.

"Umm…okay let's start with this equation then…" he went on explaining the first equation in the book to her in the simplest way he could. She kind of understood it as he went on… kind of. Nevertheless, he wasn't a half-bad teacher, he had her solving several problems before Orihime even came back with the food.

"You see, you plug this number into the place where x is and then you solve it with the graphing calculator," he said showing her with his calculator at the same time, "and then you take the answer and plug it into the next equation over here." He handed her the calculator to do it herself and corrected her if she made a mistake.

Her eyes lit up when she did the problem correctly, "Like this, is it right," she was almost bouncing with excitement when he nodded affirmatively.

"Yeah, you're getting it," he had a small smile on his face as he watched her solve another problem.

"Wait," he said placing his hand over hers, stopping her from solving the problem, "You need to multiply these first."

When he stopped her, she looked up to meet his eyes in question. She realized it was a mistake when his deep brown eyes locked with hers. They looked the same as in the dream and for the first time since meeting him she got a good look at his face. He was more handsome than she had thought, granted she knew he was good-looking from the beginning but now that she really looked at him she could only describe him as gorgeous. His chiseled features and deep eyes framed by his unruly hair made him incredibly attractive.

He had stopped talking when their eyes had met and he seemed equally lost in the moment. Rukia noticed that he had moved much closer to her during their study session, so close that his thigh was pressed against hers. His hand was still over hers and he was now rubbing his thumb lightly over her knuckles.

For a moment, she almost felt like consenting with her dream… almost.

She mentally slapped herself. Her dreams never showed good things, always bad. This would be no different, it was only an illusion, something bad would happen, it always happened, and then someone would get hurt or die… like last time.

"I've got the food," said Orihime as she came back to the living room with trays of snacks, setting them on the coffee table.

Ichigo looked away for a moment as the strange smell of miso, honey, and wasabi invaded his nose and that was all she needed. Pulling her hand away from his, she stood up quickly putting her work into her bag she bowed to the occupants of the apartment.

"I'm sorry but I have to get home and take care of my cat before it gets too late," she said. It was a lame excuse and she knew it but she had to get out of there. She did not make eye contact with the orange haired boy as she said her farewell. Turning on her heel, she hurried out of the apartment.

* * *

She slowed her steps to a comfortable walk when she was several yards away from the apartment complex. The sun was beginning to set and the soft glow of the sunset bathed the town in a warm crimson light. She had been stupid and she knew it. Letting that boy close to her was not a good idea. She felt like banging her head against the concrete wall. 

"You know it is dangerous to walk home alone this time of the evening," a familiar male voice said from behind her. She turned around quickly and gawked at the person who stood in front of her.

"What are you doing following me?" she asked with anger seeping into her voice. After all she did to get away from him and now they're alone in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Orihime was worried about you," he said nonchalantly as he walked up to her, "She thought I should walk you home." His hands were in his pockets as he casually walked past her. She was speechless. Fuming with anger, she glared at his back as he walked in front of her.

"I don't need a babysitter," she said to him, refusing to move.

He looked at her over his shoulder coolly and shrugged, "I never said that you did," he said to her smoothly, "But if you are going to act like a little kid and refuse a walk home from a concerned _friend_," he emphasized the word friend, "then maybe you do need a babysitter." He walked on ahead unperturbed.

She ground her teeth together and clenched her fists in anger before relenting and following him. The nerve of that boy was unbelievable, she thought to herself. He was obviously a spoiled kid used to getting what he wanted.

She glowered at him the entire way back and neither of them attempted to cut through the thick tension in the atmosphere with any kind of conversation.

It was completely dark by the time they reached her home and though she would never admit it, Rukia was slightly relieved she had not had to walk home alone. The cooler night air was chilly and she reveled in the idea of jumping into her warm bed and forgetting the day's events.

She noticed spitefully that the orange haired nuisance insisted on following her all the way to her doorstep. She unlocked her door as quickly as possible without looking at him and she was sure she heard him chuckle lightly at her. Relief flooded over her as her door unlocked.

Without turning, she uttered a small 'thank you' and turned her doorknob. She was startled when she felt the gentle brush of fingertips against her shoulder and a whispered 'goodnight Rukia' much closer that she had expected him to be. She felt her cheeks heat up and she involuntarily shivered.

Nearly falling into her house as she opened her door, she stumbled to shut and lock it behind her. She leaned against the door for a moment and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart before she turned back around. Standing on her tiptoes, she watched him walk away through her door's peephole. She audibly sighed when he was out of sight smiled at her cat when he rubbed against her legs.

"You were hungry weren't you Kyo-Kyo," she said as she picked up the orange ball of fluff, "Come on and I'll get your dinner."

* * *

**A/N- sorry again for the long delay. I hope that I'll be able to work on this story on Fridays so look for new chapters on Saturdays. Again, the more reviews I get the more incentive I have to write, so if you want to read more, leave a review, even if it is anonymous. **

**-Kunoichi Uchiha**

**1. Nice chapter, update soon.**

**2. Check your grammar and edit some parts.**

**3. I hate this chapter.**

**4. Yeah! I love it! Update soon!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- Hello all, I know it has been a ridiculously long time since I have written but I have a recent bout of determination to finish this story. **

**I do not own BLEACH.**

Chapter 4

Rukia awoke slowly taking a deep breath of air and slowly opening her eyes. She was cold, as she always was in the morning and she let out an involuntary shiver and pulled the covers up over her head. Kyo the cat was curled up in a ball at the foot of her bed. The cat opened his eyes half way and looked at Rukia for a moment before closing them again and falling back into his catnap. There was a slight moment of calm in the bedroom as both inhabitants attempted to fall back into their sweet slumber.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" The alarm went off shrilly and Rukia muffled a scream in her pillow knowing it was time to wake up. She hit the button on the alarm clock forcefully and sat up straight in the bed to collect her thoughts.

Kyo opened his eyes again and let out a yawn. He looked at Rukia for a moment before closing his eyes again. Rukia looked at the cat for a moment jealous that he could go back to sleep.

Rukia stood up and stretched her arms over her head, rising up to her toes to get a full stretch, her hands balled into fists. She yawned and walked to the kitchen, her bare feet lightly stepping on the cold tile floor.

She filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove to boil. She opened her fridge and took out leftovers to heat up for her breakfast, placing them in the microwave so they would be heated quickly. The kettle began to whistle at that moment and she poured the steaming water into a tea pot filled with green tea leaves, closing the lid and letting the tea steep. As the tea steeped and the food heated she took a seat at the kitchen table and let her mind wander.

Despite her attempts the orange haired boy had somehow entwined himself in her life. She felt as if she was losing control of the situation. She hated being out of control.

The microwave beeped signaling the food was done. Rukia stood up and commenced with eating her breakfast and drinking her tea.

* * *

His breath was slightly ragged as he lowered himself to the ground in a pushup. Ichigo liked to do physical activity in the morning to wake up and get his blood flowing.

"47, 48, 49, 50." He said aloud, stopping after fifty and rising to his feet, he swung his arms back and forth to loosen the muscles he had just worked.

Ichigo walked over to his bed where he had deposited his shirt and picked it up, pulling it over his head. Walking to the bathroom he looked in the mirror and ran his hands through his tousled hair. He checked over his appearance with a quick once over before turning and walking downstairs.

"Ichigo, here are the treats that you asked for. I made extra again, do you want to eat them now?" Ichigo's sister Yuzu asked him sweetly.

"No thanks Yuzu, I'm running late so I'll just take them with me." Ichigo replied. He picked up the brown paper bag filled with the treats and walked to the front door. "See ya later Yuzu," he said as he picked up his school bag from next to the front door, he turned around slightly and gave a small wave to his little sister.

"Bye nii-san," she replied before turning back to the kitchen.

Ichigo walked out the door and closed it behind him. He dug through his bag looking for his headphones. "Damn it," he said under his breath as the headphones evaded his grasp. After a few frustrated seconds of searching he finally grasped the headphones and pulled them from his bag, placing each of the bugs in his ears. He fiddled with his iPod for a moment before he found an appropriate playlist suited for his mood.

He walked to school at an easygoing pace, letting the music invade his mind and flow though his body. It was a cool morning and a slight fog was covering the town. He nodded at his neighbors as he passed and continued his walk to school.

* * *

Rukia was early, taking her seat in class and opening her textbook for the first period, biology. She looked over the pictures of arachnids, which they were currently studying. Her eyes lingered on the large tarantula picture for a moment before she was shaken out of her thoughts by the arrival of the other classmates.

Orihime was the first to arrive and she let out a cheerful greeting to Rukia as she took her assigned seat. Rukia returned the greeting but then turned her attention back to the text.

Rukia had thought long and hard on her circumstance and her current actions were doing nothing but solidifying her path to her premonition. If she really wanted to control her destiny she needed to sever her connections with the orange haired Ichigo.

"Rukia, I'm so glad that you can to my house to study yesterday, I hope you will be able to come by today too!" Orihime said cheerfully. Rukia swallowed a lump in her throat and looked up from her textbook.

"Umm, Inoue, I can't today I…" Rukia searched her mind for an excuse but her thought was interrupted as her seatmate took his seat next to her. She looked up at his shock of orange hair as he turned to her and held out his brown paper bag filled with treats.

"Hey Rukia I brought breakfast again," he said, a charming smile gracing his face as he looked at her expectantly. The sweet smell of the fresh baked goodies poured out of the bag and into her nostrils invading her senses. She forced herself to break out of the spell of the sweet scent and Ichigo's charismatic smirk.

"I ate already," she said as she turned back to her textbook, pretending to read about spiders.

"Oh…" he said retracting the bag back to his desk, the smile faltering. He turned toward the rest of the group and offered the treats to them instead.

The first half of the day went by quickly first biology for an hour, followed by literature and Japanese history, each for an hour. By the time lunch came Rukia had managed to not speak with Ichigo once since she had refused his treats.

"Ready to go eat?" Orihime asked Rukia as the entire class stood and collected their things for lunch. Rukia turned toward Orihime and searched her mind for some excuse.

"Umm, I have something I need to do but I'll catch up with you later okay?" Rukia said as she grabbed her lunch box from her bag. She could see some of the cheerful spark leave Orihime's face and Rukia instantly felt guilty. She bolted form the class room before anyone else had a chance to ask her a question.

Rukia found her way to the roof of the school where she sat and began eating her lunch by herself. She took a bite of her bento box and slowly chewed. She felt lonely eating lunch alone and missed the companionship and the crazy antics of the group. She lowered her head slightly and swallowed her food.

A bird flew overhead, which caught her attention for a moment. She covered her food protectively and watched the bird as it flew by.

* * *

Ichigo looked up from his food and saw a bird fly over toward them and land in the tree that they were eating lunch under. His attention, momentarily on the bird, was brought back when Tatsuki opened her mouth in disgust, sticking out her tongue. Apparently Tatsuki had developed the courage to try Orihime's concoction today inspired by Rukia's ability to eat the food the day before.

"Oh my god Orihime what did you put in that?" Tatsuki all but screamed as she reached for her drink to wash the taste away.

"Daikon radish…" Orihime replied he cheerfulness slowly fading from her demeanor.

"In peanut butter cookies?" Tatsuki replied back, incredulous. Orihime did not reply and instead focused on eating her lunch.

"I bet Rukia would like it," Keigo said then, breaking the momentary silence.

"Where is the midget anyways?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh, she had something to do so she couldn't eat with us today," Orihime replied.

"What did she have to do?" Ichigo asked, curious.

"She didn't say…" Orihime said softly. Ichigo didn't say anything else and went back to concentrating on his lunch.

After lunch, the group headed back to the classroom. Rukia was already there with her head buried in the book.

"We missed you at lunch Rukia," Ichigo said nonchalantly as he took his seat next to her.

"Hmm," Rukia replied, brushing the question off. Ichigo got the hint and remained silent for the rest of the day.

After school was over Rukia had already gather her things and left before Ichigo had closed his textbook. He wondered to himself if he had said something to her that had pissed her off but he couldn't think of anything. He shrugged his shoulders and figured something else must be bothering her.

"Bye Ichigo," Orihime said as she walked out of the room.

"See ya Ichigo," Tatsuki said as she followed Orihime.

"Bye guys," he replied back.

Ichigo gathered his things and grabbed his headphones again, putting them in his ears and turning on his iPod. As he walked home he was again losing himself in the music, each step he took seemed coordinated with the beat.

He lived fairly close to the school but it was still quite a walk. Every day he took different paths home depending on his mood. Today he decided to go in a direction away from the busier part of the city. As he walked he let his mind wander. He wondered to himself if Rukia would come to the study session today and if she would want him to help her with math again.

"Hey dude," he heard someone shout. Taking the buds out of his ears he turned around, looking for the source of the voice. "Up here dude," the sound came from above.

The spirit was floating in the air about fifteen feet above him looking at his sideways. The ghost was a middle aged man dressed in a suit. A scowl adorned Ichigo's face.

"What do you want?" Ichigo asked the soul. The spirit man looked at him weirdly.

"Dude, you can help me…" the spirit replied.

"Not today Mr. I have plans," Ichigo replied putting his ear buds back in and turning up the volume on the iPod.

Ichigo had been able to communicate with the dead since he was little. His mother died when he was younger and he was able to see her ghost. By communicating with the ghost of his mom he was able to give her and his family closure and her spirit was able to rest in peace. At first he thought that he was able to communicate with his mom because of their relation but the power stayed with him and he continued to see all sorts of other spirits. Some of the spirits asked him to find their family and others asked him to do simple tasks for them. One spirit, for instance, wanted him to find his pet dog and find a new home for him. He preferred finding people's pets rather than finding their family for them as it was always uncomfortable speaking with people about their dead relatives. Most times they would think he was either crazy or trying to play a mean joke on them. All together though he had helped several spirits find the peace they needed to move on which always made him feel better.

* * *

_Rukia looked up, covering her face slightly at the brightness of the fire. Smoke bellowed into the sky even though the fire had yet to completely engulf the building. Rukia forced herself to look at the building and felt a wave a familiarity wash over her._

_It was Orihime's apartment building and the fire appeared to be coming from her room._

_A wave of smoke came her way and cause Rukia to cough, she had always been sensitive to smoke. She looked around for the orange haired girl but she was nowhere to be found. A deep feeling of worry settled on her like a heavy weight on her chest. _

'_Was she still in there?' Rukia though ominously. _

_Rukia heard a loud sound coming from the building and saw the fire grow for a second before it settled again. She felt afraid, more so than she had ever felt before, afraid that her friend was burning to death. Orihime was such a kind hearted person and burning alive was such a horrible way to die._

_Rukia wanted to scream, she wanted to run into the building but her body would not move. She felt helpless… _

Rukia awoke with a start, sweat pouring from her forehead.

'It was just a dream, just a dream, just a dream,' she told herself over and over again_._

It had been two days since she had begun avoiding the group. She had eaten lunch on the roof and made up excuses about missing the study session. Ichigo had let her be, sensing that she did not want to be bothered, and for that she was thankful. She was finally starting to control her own destiny.

Rukia stood from her bed and paced. She knew that that was a premonition, not just an ordinary dream. She felt the dread consume her. How could she protect her friend from burning her own house down? She sat back on the bed and covered her face with her hands.

'I won't let this happen again,' she told herself, 'I won't let someone close to me die when I can prevent it.'

She suddenly felt a sense of power, she saw the future and she could stop it. Maybe her premonitions would be useful after all.

**A/N- So that is the end of this chapter. Please review, it really makes me want to update sooner :)**

**Cut and paste if desired:**

**1. Nice chapter, update soon.**

**2. Check your grammar and edit some parts.**

**3. I hate this chapter.**

**4. Yeah! I love it! Update soon!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N- Hello all, here is the fifth chapter. I will try to update as soon as possible but I am a full time grad student in engineering so it is difficult. Luckily the summer semester is not too bad so I have some free time. I do not own BLEACH**

**Thank you all for the wonderful reviews!**

Chapter 5

_Rukia looked up, covering her face slightly at the brightness of the fire. Smoke bellowed into the sky even though the fire had yet to completely engulf the building. Rukia forced herself to look at the building and felt a wave a familiarity wash over her._

_It was Orihime's apartment building and the fire appeared to be coming from her room._

_A wave of smoke came her way and cause Rukia to cough, she had always been sensitive to smoke. She looked around for the orange haired girl but she was nowhere to be found. A deep feeling of worry settled on her like a heavy weight on her chest. _

'_Was she still in there?' Rukia though ominously. _

_Rukia heard a loud sound coming from the building and saw the fire grow for a second before it settled again. She felt afraid, more so than she had ever felt before, afraid that her friend was burning to death. Orihime was such a kind hearted person and burning alive was such a horrible way to die._

_Rukia wanted to scream, she wanted to run into the building but her body would not move. She felt helpless… _

Rukia could not fall back to sleep after the dream so she digressed to fruitlessly lying in bed staring up at the celling. Kyo was stretched out at her feet, his claws slightly digging into the comforter. She envied the cat's ability to fall asleep effortlessly. As if sensing her jealously he let out a contented sigh and kneaded his paws on the comforter, solidifying her resentment.

There was no school today so when the morning finally came she picked up the phone and dialed Orihime's number, wanting to make sure the orange haired girl was alright. Rukia felt a tremble course through her body but she blamed it on the cool morning air, not the dread that had welled up in her stomach. The phone rang several times and Rukia was beginning to lose her patience.

'Come on, answer,' she thought to herself as the phone rang for the fifth time.

"Hello," Orihime answered finally.

"Inoue," Rukia replied, "Umm… is everything okay?"

"Rukia?" Orihime said, Rukia could almost hear the cheer in her voice when her friend realized it was her calling, "Yeah, I'm doing great. How are you doing? It's been so long since we talked."

"Yeah," Rukia replied, unsure how to continue now that she knew her friend was safe, "I'm doing okay."

"So, I'm having another study get together today and I was going to cook dinner for everyone…"

"No!" Rukia all but yelled back into the phone. Images of fire caused by Orihime cooking flew into her mind.

"Rukia?" Orihime said, puzzled at her friends outburst. Rukia covered her mouth, embarrassed that she had just yelled that into the phone.

"Umm, I only meant that you always do so much for everyone. You should have a break today and let someone else do all of the work and host the study group." Rukia said back, covering her slipup.

"That's so nice of you to say Rukia but where…" Orihime began.

"At my house," Rukia said before her friend could finish, "I'll order takeout."

"That's great Rukia!" Orihime replied back, "I'll let everyone know."

"Okay," Rukia said, palling slightly when Orihime said 'everyone'. They continued to talk on the phone for a few minutes, Orihime telling Rukia about the antics of the group. Keigo had apparently made fun of Ichigo, Chad and Uryu for making good grades on their literature quiz and Tatsuki had tried some of Orihime's cooking. Rukia laughed lightheartedly, it was amazing how talking about her new friends could put her is such a happy mood.

"Well, see you in a couple of hours Rukia!" Orihime said cheerfully.

"Alright Inoue, see you then," Rukia replied, hanging the phone back of the receiver. She took a seat on her couch, sinking into the soft cushions. She let her head fall back to rest on the back of the couch. Looking up at her ceiling she let her thoughts wander. Was it really possible to prevent her premonitions or was she only avoiding the inevitable?

Rukia's premonitions had a different feel to them than normal dreams. In normal dreams she felt like she was in a haze and strange things would happen; she once had a dream that elephant sized bunnies were hopping around the city and people were riding on their backs instead of in cars. Rukia let a small smile grace her face as she thought back to the dream. The premonitions were very different though. When she had a clairvoyant dream it felt like reality. She felt like she was awake and living the moment. The only difference with the premonition dream was that she had no control. It was as if she was only observing and someone else was directing her body.

Rukia shook the thoughts from her head when Kyo jumped up onto the couch next to her. The sweet orange cat rubbed his head against her arm and settled onto her lap, begging to be petted. She complied, rubbing his soft orange fur with her fingertips. The cat let out a contented purr.

…

His lungs burned as they struggled to take in enough oxygen as the orange haired teen continued his run. Music blasted through the headphones helping to encourage his body to continue. The melody of the rock music helped to drown out his quickly beating heart that would have otherwise been pounding in his ears, reminding him of the strenuousness of his activity.

He had been running more often lately, choosing to lace up his running shoes almost daily. He had always been athletic and performed a variety of sports. His favorite activity would have to be martial arts though, which he had been doing since he was a child. At this moment however, he needed to run. The monotony of running allowed his mind to clear and his thoughts to slow down. He didn't need to think to run and the music playing in his ears allowed him to completely drown out the outside world and focus only on himself. Running was a form of meditation for him, probably the only type that his overactive mind would allow him to experience.

Ichigo slowed his pace, picking up his phone to check the GPS tracker he used to keep track of his running. He had already gone almost six miles, which surprised him since he felt like he had only been running for five minutes. He slowed completely, resting his hands on top of his head as he paced leisurely to slow his racing heart. He breathed heavily as his lungs tried to catch up with the oxygen demand of his body.

"_Ring! Ring! Ring!" _Ichigo looked down at his phone in his hand as the device started to ring and buzz signaling an incoming call. Looking at the caller ID he furrowed his eyebrows as he saw it was Orihime calling. He wondered briefly if they were all still meeting to study later.

"Hello," Ichigo answered.

"Kurosaki-san," Orihime replied.

"Inoue," The orange haired boy said back, "What's up?"

"Oh, I was just calling to let you know that we are changing our plans for the study session this afternoon," she said back. Ichigo frowned as the girl on the phone continued, "We are still having it we are just not having it at my house anymore.

"Oh," The boy replied, waiting for the girl on the phone to continue.

"We are moving it to Rukia's house," she finished. This surprised the orange haired boy significantly. He had not spoken to his seatmate for several days as the raven haired girl had chosen to ignore him completely. He had tried his best to get to know the young female, bringing food to share with her offering to help her study math and just trying to talk to her in general, but it seemed like the closer he tried to get the more she pushed him away. Since he had walked her home that one day she had even stopped eating lunch with the group, which, he noticed, had upset his friends, especially Orihime who had taken to the new student since she had tried her cooking without any signs of detestation.

Ichigo let out a heavy sigh. He had attempted to get to know the young amethyst eyed student as he had any other new person, even though they had started off kind of roughly with him running into her almost knocking her unconscious. Ichigo always tried to be nice to people, he had had his share of malice directed at him personally for his abnormal hair color, when he was younger, and he knew how much it hurt. To be in a new place and to not know anyone was a difficult situation and he sympathized with the new girl who had become his seatmate.

"Okay, Inoue, that sounds great," the orange haired youth said to the girl on the phone, "what time are we meeting again?"

"Umm, I think around five," she answered, cheerfully but with a hint of uncertainty. Orihime always was slightly forgetful.

"Alright, I'll see you then," Ichigo said back, "Bye Inoue."

"Bye Kurosaki-san," the girl replied before the line went dead.

Ichigo took a deep, calming breath. His heart rate and breathing had returned to normal over the course of his conversation with Orihime but he felt a small flutter in his stomach at the thought of going to Rukia's house. He wondered if the petite girl would continue to ignore him even while he was in her home. A small smile found its way to Ichigo's face. Even though he was troubled by the fact that Rukia seemed to dislike him, he couldn't help liking the way her amethyst sparked with passion when she was angry with him, it made her look… cute, almost like an angry kitten.

Ichigo shook his head to clear his mind. 'Where did those thoughts come from?' he mused to himself. Turning the music on his iPod back on he figured it was time to continue his run before his mind started wandering again.

….

Rukia sat down in a huff on her couch startling the sleeping cat that was perched at the other end. She had ordered takeout food, which would be delivered in thirty to forty-five minutes and she had cleaned out her living room to make space for her classmates and herself to study. She placed her hands on her face and groaned as dread filled her stomach. She knew that her classmates would be her any minute and she would have to face the orange hair boy from her dreams.

She thought back to her dream, the first one she had of the boy and felt a small bush grace her features. She had to admit to herself that the orange haired teen was handsome, and he seemed really nice as well. She shook her head roughly and smacked her palm to her forehead. What was she thinking? Premonitions equal bad, she thought to herself reinforcing her mental strength. Plus that wasn't the premonition she needed to be worried about now, the one dealing with Orihime was much more important at the moment.

"_Ding, dong!"_ Rukia was awakened from her thoughts by the doorbell. She quickly jumped to her feet and straightened out her skirt. As she walked to the front door she suddenly felt the dread in her stomach multiply tenfold, what if it was the orange haired boy at the door? Rukia did not think she could handle being alone with the object of her loathing for any period of time.

She slowed her hurried pace and silently crept to the door figuring if it was him she could just make up a lie about being in the other room and not hearing the doorbell.

She slowly rose to the top of her tip toes and looked through the peephole. When she saw Orihime and Tatsuki standing outside she let out a sigh of relief and undid the locks.

"Welcome," Rukia said as she swung the door open, a small but cheerful smile on her face.

"Rukia!" Orihime happily chirped as she pulled the smaller girl in for a hug, "I've missed you!" she said as the smaller girl attempted to hug the orange haired female back while simultaneously trying to not get suffocated by Orihime's large breasts.

"Yo, long time no see," Tatsuki said with a small wave as Orihime released the girl from her embrace. Rukia smiled back as she straightened her outfit again.

"Please, come in," Rukia said to the two girls as she stepped aside and held the door open as they entered.

"Wow, Rukia," Orihime said as they entered the house, "Your house is so nice."

"Yeah," Tatsuki added, "Do you live here all by yourself?"

Rukia nodded affirmatively as she shut the door behind them. She led the girls to the living room where they would study.

"Awwww," Orihime cooed, "look at the adorable kitty," The girl gestured to the orange cat sleeping on the couch. Rukia let a smile creep onto her face and the girl lightly petted the uninterested cat. Kyo always was calm and antisocial.

Rukia was brought out of her musing by the doorbell again. This time when she looked through the peephole she saw that it was the takeout she had ordered. She opened the door and took the food form the delivery boy, handing him a tip before he left. She placed the food in the kitchen before walking back into the living room.

More of the classmates arrived one by one, including Chad, Ishida and Mizuiro. They each settled on the couched in the living room, preparing their study supplies. Rukia had made sure to claim a seat on the edge of one couch right next to Orihime, thereby preventing anyone else from sitting next to her. Rukia mentally applauded herself and her ingeniousness.

The doorbell rang again and Rukia headed to open the door. As the door swung open she inwardly groaned as she came face to face with the seatmate. He stood outside the door, his hands casually in his pockets. His eyebrows were furrowed as usual but one side of his mouth was turned up in a small, cocky smile.

"Hey, Rukia," The boy said casually. Rukia forced her outside appearance to be cold and unmoving, no hint of emotion either positive or negative.

"Kurosaki-san," She said with an icy tone as she stepped to the side and held open the door. The boy walked in, his hands never left his pockets and his eyes never left the small raven haired female. Rukia gestured toward the living room where the rest of the class was sitting but Ichigo ignored her.

"Can I use the bathroom?" he asked politely. He didn't really need to but after hearing her speak to him, even if it was only his name in that cold tone, he wanted to hear more, it had been so long since she had spoken to him at all.

"It's through that hallway," She said in the same tone as before, "The third door on the left."

Ichigo nodded and finally broke his stare from her face and followed her directions. Rukia headed back to the living room but was stopped by the doorbell again before she made it to her seat on the couch. She opened the door and was greeted with the overly enthusiastic Keigo.

"Rukia!" He said loudly, with that creepy smile on his face. The girl looked away from his face, annoyed with the pervert's actions and found herself staring at what was in Keigo's hand.

"What. Is. That." Rukia said, pointing to the small cage on his hand. Inside was a small white colored rodent.

"Oh," Keigo said happily, "This is my pet rat, Yuki. I brought him since we are studying rodents in biology I figured we could use a live sample to observe."

Keigo walked inside before Rukia could tell him to take the creature back to his house and he situated himself in the living room. The other classmates greeted him and they each looked at and asked about the rat in his cage. Apparently some of the students knew about the rat already, mainly Mizuiro.

Rukia remained rooted to her spot in shock. There was a rat… in her house.

'What the…' Rukia thought to herself before she was startled out of her reverie by a presence behind her.

"What's up with you?" Ichigo had come out from the bathroom, noticing her startled expression, and was now situated behind her. She didn't turn to look at him she only lifted her finger and pointed at Keigo.

"Rat…" she said in a small whisper, barely audible but the orange hair man had heard it.

"Oh," Ichigo said realization coming to him, "I can't believe Keigo brought that weird thing here." The orange haired man folded his arms over his chest. He walked forward some, moving to stand next to the girl. He opened his mouth, about to say something to her but stopped when the petite woman walked away, toward the living room. Ichigo stood in the same place, one of his lanky arms moving upward as he motioned to scratch the back of his orange haired head in confusion. 'That was weird,' he thought to himself but shrugged the feeling away as he followed the girl into the living room.

The group had studied for about an hour, going over their biology which they had an upcoming test in. Keigo had taken his rat out of the cage, which caused Rukia to inhale deeply in shock, but it turned out the rat named Yuki was actually well trained and friendly. They had went over the anatomy of the rat and also some of his behavioral characteristics. After studying for the first hour they had declared their hunger and prepared to eat the takeout food Rukia had ordered. Keigo had put the rat back in the cage and all of the people who had handled the rat washed their hands thoroughly. Rukia got the food out and all of her classmates took seats around her large dining room table. The table was big enough to seat everyone comfortably. Everyone started to eat the delicious food Rukia had ordered.

Everyone was enjoying to food and talking small talk, it was very similar to the lunches that Rukia had had with the group and she felt her spirits lighten. Rukia enjoyed the company that her group of friends offered.

'Friends," Rukia thought to herself, 'I guess they are my friends.'

She was startled out of her contemplations by a loud crash coming from the living room. Rukia stood and headed to the living room, telling everyone who moved to join her that she had it under control and that they should just sit and enjoy their meal.

As Rukia stepped into the living room what she saw made her stop.

The cat pounced, his front paws reaching for unseen prey. His orange tail swished madly as he watched the small creature try to escape. His pupils were large, making his eyes look black rather than the warm cinnamon color they usually were. The fur on his back stood up in orange spikes as he stalked his frantic victim.

Can you say Déjà vu?

She looked at the cage on the coffee table and saw that it was empty. She felt her stomach drop. Apparently the rat had gotten loose and now Kyo was chasing him.

She was surprised at the cat's ferocity. She had never seen him like this before, it was as if he had discovered his mortal enemy. She cringed as the orange feline knocked over a picture frame, sitting on the coffee table, as he attempted to pounce again. The small rat he was chasing scurried past her and under the couch, Kyo hot on his tail.

She watched amused as the cat pawed under the couch desperately trying to reach the small creature. It was not coming out from under the couch anytime soon. She giggled slightly at the cat's frenzied pawing and the way his tail continued to rocket back and forth.

"What the hell is going on!" she heard a male voice shout from behind her.

She turned around surprised and felt herself freeze.

That stupid orange-haired Ichigo stood watching her obviously waiting for her to answer the question he had just howled at her.

"Why are you just standing there when your stupid cat is going to kill the rat!" He yelled

"He's not going to kill him, the rat is safe under the couch!" she yelled back, "Here, I'll get the Kyo and take him back to my bedroom, you get the rat and put him back in the cage."

Turning away from his hard glare, she grabbed the orange feline and picked him up trying to calm his struggling form. He wanted nothing to do with her and desperately tried to free himself from her grasp. Why was Kyo being so damn difficult? She dragged the struggling cat to her bedroom where she deposited him, making sure to shut the door so he could not escape.

She looked at her hand, the crazed feline had scratched her right index finger and in was slightly bleeding. What on earth had gotten into that cat?

Rukia walked back into the living room to see Ichigo putting the rat back in his cage. Rukia was dazed and she let her mind wander on its own, she knew this was going to happen, this was the second premonition. She felt her stomach drop even further that it had before. So it had happened, that only meant that the other premonitions where bound to come true as well, unless she could find a way to stop them.

Rukia was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice Ichigo approach her until he had grabbed her hand. She initially tried to yank her hand out of his grasp but he held strong, his eyes where focused on her right index finger.

"You're bleeding," he said to her, his eyes meeting hers for a second before they moved back to the scratch on her finger. Rukia remained silent. His brown eyes had become a lighter amber color and they held an intensity that she had only seen once, and that was only in a dream. Rukia gasped as the orange haired man brought her hand to his lips, his mouth closing around her injured finger. He sucked the blood away gently in his warm mouth. Rukia was too stunned to move. His intense eyes moved to her timid amethyst eyes and he held her gaze. He slowly moved her finger out of his mouth and re-griped her hand. He placed a small, gentle kiss on the cut on her finger before Rukia yanked her hand away quickly as his grip on her hand softened. She felt her checks burn with a blush and saw Ichigo smirk slightly when he noticed.

"Don't touch me," she said coldly, coming to her senses. Ichigo's smirk faltered.

Rukia spun on her heel before he could say anything to her and she walked back to the group that was still sitting at the table. Ichigo followed after a moment and sat at the table as well. There was a tense silence in the room before Keigo asked about his poor rat. Ichigo explained what had happened to him and everyone at the table listened.

Rukia simply sat there thinking about the premonition and how it had come true.

….

As everyone left her home she said goodbye to each. Orihime was the last to leave and she stopped and looked at Rukia with a small but sad smile on her face.

"Thanks for everything Rukia," she said to the shorter girl.

"It was no problem Orihime," Rukia replied back, "Be careful going home, and be careful at your house, you know don't light any candles and leave them unattended or anything like that…" Rukia trailed off, she was thinking about her dream but she didn't want to sound unusual.

Orihime looked at her friend and nodded. She went to move out the door but stopped and turned back to the petite woman.

"Umm Rukia," Orihime began, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure Orihime, what is it?" The raven hair female replied, she would do almost anything for the girl who was so kind to her and everyone around her.

"Can you try to be friends with Kurosaki-san?" The taller girl said. Rukia was lost for words, did Orihime know something was off between the two of them? To be honest she didn't want anything to do with the orange hair man. It was weird how Orihime could see that when the girl seemed so naïve at times.

"Ummm, sure…" Rukia said, but she didn't sound sure at all

…

**A/N: Hello everyone, so here is another chapter. Please review. Cut and paste is desired: **

**1. Nice chapter, update soon.**

**2. Check your grammar and edit some parts.**

**3. I hate this chapter.**

**4. Yeah! I love it! Update soon!**

**And a special thank you to everyone who did review:**

**zombiegirl22: Thank you for your review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Crystalline Arch: Thank you for your reviews, I really appreciate it!**

**teshichan: Thanks for reading and reviewing! You see the cat premonition came true this time, lol.**

**famartin: Thanks for taking time to review!**

**xXRedPokerGirlxX: Thank you so much for you nice review, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!**

**DinieLuvYunho: Thank you for reviewing, there was some ichiruki in this chapter but all in all it will be slow since she still wants to fight the premonition.**


End file.
